There are four major theories that are used to describe personality. These four theories are call psychodynamic, trait or five-factor model, humanistic, and social cognitive. Each of these theories have their advantages and disadvantages and I will be discussing those in the following paragraphs. The first theory that I will be discussing is Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theory. The psychoanalytical theory relies on three core assumptions: psychic determinism, symbolic meaning, and unconscious motivation. Psychic determinism is the assumption there is a cause to all psychological events and that forces that we are unaware of control us. Symbolic meaning is the belief that no actions have meaning and that all are attributable to previous
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Freud also found that when the ego experiences anxiety, it engages in defense mechanisms. The most important mechanisms are repression, denial, regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, and sublimation. The most controversial aspect of Freud’s theory is his model of psychosexual development. Freud founds that personality development follows a series of stages and that each of these stages focus on a different sexually arousing part of the body. The five stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. There are major criticisms to Freud’s psychoanalytical theory. The first critique is that the hypotheses made from the theory are impossible or difficult to refute making it hard to falsify. The next critique of the theory is that some of the hypothesis made failed predictions. Another critique of the theory is that his theory about the unconscious is questionable. Research does not support the existence of the “reservoir” that stored our sexual and aggressive energies and memories. Researchers believe that many of Freud’s theory are also based off atypical samples and are generalized to the rest of the population. The last disadvantage to the Freud theory is …show more content…
When identify traits, many theorist use a technique called factor analysis, which is a way to analyze correlations among responses to personality inventories and other measures. The Big Five model of personality is also a part of the trait theory. The Big Five consists of five traits that have consistently appeared in factor analysis. Theses five traits are extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Walter Mischel argued with the trait theory in his book Personality and Assessment. Mischel found that there are low correlations between different behaviors that are assumed to replicate the same trait. Mischel concluded that measures of personality aren’t very helpful in predicting behavior. Although Mischel was right in determining that personality traits are not highly predictive, Seymour Epstein found that traits are highly predictive of aggregated behaviors. Contrary to Mischel theory, personality traits can be very useful in determining overall behavior
Freud also found that when the ego experiences anxiety, it engages in defense mechanisms. The most important mechanisms are repression, denial, regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, and sublimation. The most controversial aspect of Freud’s theory is his model of psychosexual development. Freud founds that personality development follows a series of stages and that each of these stages focus on a different sexually arousing part of the body. The five stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. There are major criticisms to Freud’s psychoanalytical theory. The first critique is that the hypotheses made from the theory are impossible or difficult to refute making it hard to falsify. The next critique of the theory is that some of the hypothesis made failed predictions. Another critique of the theory is that his theory about the unconscious is questionable. Research does not support the existence of the “reservoir” that stored our sexual and aggressive energies and memories. Researchers believe that many of Freud’s theory are also based off atypical samples and are generalized to the rest of the population. The last disadvantage to the Freud theory is …show more content…
When identify traits, many theorist use a technique called factor analysis, which is a way to analyze correlations among responses to personality inventories and other measures. The Big Five model of personality is also a part of the trait theory. The Big Five consists of five traits that have consistently appeared in factor analysis. Theses five traits are extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Walter Mischel argued with the trait theory in his book Personality and Assessment. Mischel found that there are low correlations between different behaviors that are assumed to replicate the same trait. Mischel concluded that measures of personality aren’t very helpful in predicting behavior. Although Mischel was right in determining that personality traits are not highly predictive, Seymour Epstein found that traits are highly predictive of aggregated behaviors. Contrary to Mischel theory, personality traits can be very useful in determining overall behavior